SHERIFF HOSTS ROUNDTABLE TALK ON METH WITH JOHN DOOLITTLE AND NATIONAL EXPERT

About 30 county, city, and state officials joined Sheriff Perry
Reniff in a roundtable talk with U.S. Representative John T.
Doolittle and a national expert about the problems of methamphetamine
on Wednesday.

Representatives from the Probation Department, Behavioral Health,
Feather River Tribal Health, Butte County Office of Education,
Oroville Police, Sheriff's Office, Butte Interagency Narcotics Task
Force, City Council, Board of Supervisors, Oroville Hospital, and
District Attorney's Office were in attendance.

The talk opened with Reniff introducing Doolittle. "We live in
bureaucracies where things can move at the speed of a glacier,"
Reniff said. "And, in Washington D.C. it's ten times more than that.
Our mission is to coordinate efforts to combat the meth problem. Here
in Butte County, exciting things are happening as we confront this
epidemic that is destroying lives."

Doolittle began by acknowledging Butte County as one of the leading
counties dealing with meth. "At the federal level, we need to
heighten awareness of the problem," Doolittle said. "On a personal
level, meth becomes a nightmare and also impacts communities in so many ways."

He then introduced Deputy Director Mary Ann Solberg of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy.

Solberg spoke with passion and shared strategies for countering the
meth epidemic. She played a videotape of new meth commercials
designed to show the devastating impact of the drug.

One segment shows a man in a doctor's office complaining of
respiratory problems, but he doesn't understand why he is sick. We
learn he has yet to realize his new home used to have a meth lab, and
his house is contaminated with toxic chemicals.

Another commercial shows an inmate in his prison cell. A photo of him
as a young soccer player hangs on the wall. Tears steam down his
cheeks as he reflects on what he has lost due to meth.

In another commercial, a young girl reads her own painful testimony
about how violent her parents became when on meth. Another teen girl
talked about the trauma of losing her father when he was taken to
jail for meth.

"Whose got a problem now?" a voice says after each commercial segment.

"We learned how successful the campaign to regulate tobacco became
when we talked about the effects of second-hand smoke," Solberg said.
"The 'second-hand affect' shown in these commercials gets across the
message that meth impacts the entire community."

Another strategy is random drug testing for high school students. "In
the beginning, I was opposed to this idea," Solberg said. "Now I
support it, but let me make this very clear. These drug tests must
always, always be confidential and never, ever be used to punish the
student. The tests should only be used for intervention and to help
the student without any punitive measures attached whatsoever," she said.

Solberg cited reasons why such testing is effective: 1) It give kids
a reason to say "no" to drugs, and 2) Parents and school counselors
can identify those who are addicted and intervene with help.

"Kids are the greatest proponents of drug testing," Solberg said.
"I've traveled around the country. In Pennsylvania, an auditorium
with kids cheered when asked if they would support drug testing."
Studies show random testing results in reducing drug use and
improving grades while decreasing number of teen pregnancies and
violence, she added.

Healing and treatment of addicts is another goal of her proposed
strategies. "We need people to have access to recovery," she said.
"And, we need only the best treatment providers because it is
difficult to treat." Funding in the form of vouchers and grants was
mentioned to help cover costs for treatment. "We also are doing
clinical trials with new drugs, and hope they are successful,"
Solberg said. "There is a great deal being done in the fields of
prevention, intervention, and treatment."

Solberg looked at Bob Wentz, Chief Executive Officer of the Oroville
Hospital, and said, "Thank you so much for being here. Hospitals are
critical in dealing with this problem. They can provide drug testing
and obtain important secondary data which helps us understand the
nature of problems."

One example she gave was someone coming to the emergency room with a
broken ankle after falling off a ladder. "The broken ankle is
primary, but what led to the fall? Was it drug or alcohol related?
It's critical for hospitals and health clinics to be involved. Also,
to help with screening, which aids in intervention," she said.

Another strategy she discussed is "market disruption." She said
heroin used to be thought of as an "inner city" drug you shoot in
your arm and was thought to be a "dirty, nasty drug." "But pushers
understood how to market and use a different delivery system," she
said. Heroin became a drug you could inhale or smoke with
sophisticated nicknames to make it sound like a hip party drug, she
said. "Now we have people with business degrees marketing drugs."

Solberg said the most effective way to reduce drug use is by having
coalitions like the Drug-Free Communities program.

"Drug abuse is a local issue and needs local solutions," she said.
"It's important to change norms around drug use." Young people need
consistent messages over time from every sector of community. Think
of messages about alcohol students get from the school district, and
then go to the local convenience store and see the posters of "cool"
beer commercials, she added.

"Kids are not getting consistent messages. It is also important to
have expectations of students and also to provide the opportunities
for success," she said. "Also, you cannot change youth behavior until
you first address adult behaviors. We are role models for children."

To change the norms of a community, a coalition needs to be strong
and every sector needs to be involved, Solberg said. "Adults are a
captive audience in the workplace," she said and suggested sharing
tips on effective parenting during lunch or through e-mail messages.

"It's about changing culture. Pastors can talk about importance of
parenting and provide family activities," she said. "Or along with
warning labels about drugs, pharmacists can place effective
grandparenting tips into their shopping bags."

She said drug courts can help break the cycle of drug abuse, which
can be passed on from parents to children. Change comes from the top
down, and includes health departments, courts, laws, schools,
hospitals, media, law enforcement, grocery stores, and businesses,
she said. "For example, clerks can be trained not to sell items that
can be used as inhalants to anyone under 18 years old."

Solberg said there are grant resources available. "We don't need to
reinvent the wheel every time. We need to talk and transfer
knowledge." She concluded, "We need to spread the word that meth can
destroy communities. It kills children, families, and communities."

Butte County Office of Education's Marian Gage spoke about the
Oroville CHAO/ADVICE Coalition for a drug-free community that she and
Jana Wilson are working on.

Gage said one strategy they have came from data there was a parent
connection, so the coalition is focusing on parents who are providing
access to alcohol. "We also have the 'Oroville Cares' campaign, which
spreads the message to the youth that the community cares about
them,"Gage said. Some drug testing for cannabis is already being
done, she said.

The coalition has partnerships with law enforcement, Oroville Police,
the Drug-Endangered Children's Program, the Narcotics Task Force, and
Neighborhood Watch programs in addition to working with council
members, private industry, and the Digger newspaper to promote the
coalitions "Drug-Free" community, Gage said. She also spoke of the
importance of grants and plans to obtain additional grant funding.

In conclusion, Reniff and Doolittle thanked everyone. "Thank you for
your great work. Let us know what we can do to support your efforts,"
Doolittle said.

For more information, see: www.methresources.gov, www.2stopmeth.org,
www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov.

Doolittle supports "National Meth Prevention Week"

U.S. Representative John T. Doolittle supported H. Res. 556, a bill
to create a "National Methamphetamine Prevention Week." Doolittle is
a member of the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine.

"Methamphetamine abuse is becoming a pandemic with horrible
consequences," Doolittle said. "It is wrecking lives and communities
across America. By passing this piece of legislation, we will help
increase awareness of Methamphetamine and educate the general public
on effective ways to reduce and prevent its use at all levels across
our country."

This bill has support from the National Association of Counties, the
National Narcotics Officers Associations' Coalition, the National
Criminal Justice, as well as the Association for Addiction
Professionals, the largest membership organization servicing
addiction counselors, educators, and other addiction-focused health
care professionals.